Aldesa finishes works to improve the heading of Sistema Huesna
Aldesa has finished constructing new hydraulic infrastructures in Sistema Huesna, a key milestone towards improved energy efficiency in the Drinking Water Treatment Station (ETAP) of Consorcio de Aguas del Huesna, located in the province of Seville (Spain).
The scope of the work, appraised at 34.1 million euros, includes the execution of a tunnel and the necessary conduits to carry water from the Huesna dam to ETAP Las Chimeneas, in Villanueva del Río y Minas.
The new infrastructure, used for gravity-based water transportation up to a maximum flow of 2.5 m3/s, basically consists of piping 1,400 mm wide, installed in two sections. The first, 6.3 km long, runs along the inside of a tunnel built using the Austrian method and blasting, conceived to tackle uneven land. In the second tranche, 3.2 km long, piping is laid down in a ditch as a U-bend, with one end joined to the tunnel conduit and the other connected to the drinking water treatment plant.
Once this new infrastructure is commissioned, it will replace the former pumped water transportation system. This will allow the ETAP to save approximately 10 GW/h each year in consumed energy, drastically reducing its annual emissions of CO2 into the air, up to 89%, from its current 5,925 t. The advantages of this investment include better quality water and reliable water supply, to the benefit, in turn, of 250,000 local residents.